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Skimming the Surface

By Dan Wallace - 2009-04-30

Chile Chico

"O my goodness, I’m on pavement…and its all downhill!" This was all I could think of as I made my approach on the town of Chile Chico. The previous few weeks of riding had been spent on horrible gravely washboard roads that murdered both bike and body. What a feeling it was to hit that blacktop, accelerate to a respectable speed, and NOT look back! Chile Chico was the celebratory return to civilization after weeks of living in the wilderness of Patigonia. We spent a week in the small town hanging out with our friend, Pastora Eva, helping her put together her new home. Eva was a pastor we met in Puerto Natales, and she was transferred to a church in Chile Chico shortly after we left her. It was nice that we could be with her as she was introduced to the new town and church since we were a link to her old life in Puerto Natales.

Coyhaique

After leaving Chile Chico we rode a few days up to the town of Coyhaique. There we were met by a boy named Julio in the center of town. Julio’s father, Ociel, emailed us awhile back and invited us to stay with his family while we were in town. Our stay in Coyhaique was a lot of fun. Ociel and his family lived in Maryland, USA for about a year and a half, and their house in Coyhaique was decorated with memorabilia from the States. We watched videos of them driving on I-95, and of touring NYC, Philly and DC. Ahh, memories. Hard to believe one could miss I-95. We had an opportunity to interview Ociel’s daughter Paulina and Julio, and asked them questions about education in the U.S. versus education in Chile. They both spoke very good English and it was a great chance to gain new perspectives for us.

The Ferry Ride

We decided not to ride the Carraterra Austral up to the town of Chaiten partly due to the volcano currently erupting above the town and partly because the Big Island of Chiloe sounded too good to miss. To get to the big island we had to ride from Coyhaique to Puerto Chacabuco and then get on a large ferry. The ferry ride for us lasted around 36 hours! Passengers had two options for passing time on the ferry: #1 was in a cramp passenger cabin with all the other passengers (and their kids) where movies played constantly on two big flat screens, and #2 was on the second level outdoor deck. I chose the deck and slept there two nights on a bench. Not many passengers wanted to leave the warmth of the cabin, so the days passed calmly on the deck. We made some good friends on that boat ride – some other adventurers like ourselves. Daniel from Germany, and Mathias and Sonia from France. They passed their time on the deck most of the trip also.

Chiloe

Riding the Big Island of Chiloe was certainly and adventure. We were picked up by a guy with a truck no sooner than 20 min. into our ride from the south port of Queyon. He insisted on driving us to the big town of Castro. We were leery at first, but decided to let him take us. After 10 min. we were thankful we got on the truck. Chiloe is hilly, especially the south side. Nothing but huge "up and downers". We arrived in Castro in an hour and thanked our friend for the lift. We basically saved an entire day with the ride so we decided that we would visit a beach in the north during our last day on the island. Castro was really cool. The town harbors an old church, the St. Francis Temple, that is composed of nothing but wood on the inside! The church was magnificent, truly a testament to engineering.

The Beach!

The day after we left the town of Castro we found ourselves in the northern part of the island. We visited the town of Ancud for bit and then began to ride west towards the mighty Pacific and our much anticipated beach day. The hills were fierce and many, but we knew this would make the arrival at the beach all the more sweet. The next day we rode high on a cliff side and stopped to behold a cove that resembled something out of Peter Pan’s "Neverland." Within the hour we were riding our bikes on the hard packed sand at the water’s edge! We spent a day and a half playing in the sun, relaxing and swimming in the cool waters of the Pacific. The first ORS beach day was special for us. We were all alone, us and some of the most beautiful nature yet seen on the trip. There was no schedule, no miles to make, just sand under our feet and sun to soak up. It was hard to leave that place. But we knew that this wasn’t the only jewel South America had in store for us.

Reunion with Daniel

After a day’s ride across the island and another ferry ride, we arrived back on the mainland. Fate would have us encounter of friend from the ferry one last time as the passed us in their truck. The next day the ORS was together again when we met back up with Daniel in Puerto Montt. After reconnecting we all started to turn our sights on the next big goal – Santiago.